Flash Flood!

Winter has brought with it, the cold that the tropical-born Keahi always hates. No matter how many layers she wore or how close she sat to a fire sat, when winter came calling, she could never seem to get warm. As much as she loves Sirius and every wolf in the Armada, the woman’s heart still longs for the warmth that her home offers. More and more, over the past two seasons, she had felt heartsick for the lands far from here and had started voicing that longing to her mate, Ruga. More than anything, she yearned for the beaches of Hawai’i and to show the man she loves what the Aloha Spirit is all about.

So, they had talked and, the more they talked about it, the more excited he was to see everything she so passionately describes in vibrant detail. The chance to experience Hawai’i’s vivid sunsets and sip coconut water for the rest of his days is alluring to him and the opportunity to share all that more is all Keahi wishes for. So, with both of their minds made up to travel the long stretch of ocean back to the lands where she was born, Ruga had started going back and forth from the North of Boreas to the very end of Auster.

Love is the reason Ruga is building them boat for them to traverse the wide blue yonder. And love is the reason that he is the Armada on this fateful day.

The pair are in entwined in each other’s embrace as they slumber peacefully in Ruga’s den all the while, outside, lightning shatters through the darkness of pre-dawn, illuminating all the land. Darkness returns and thunder follows swiftly on its heels, rolling out its terrible war cry as nature unleashes its fury upon the Armada. In the safe embrace of her mate, Keahi is dreaming of the home she will soon return to when Sirius’s warning cry cleaves its way into her consciousness. In her deep slumber, adrenaline is suddenly dumped into her veins and the woman is jerking upright before the dreams has even fled her eyes.

Her body is trying to move without the woman even being fully awake half mumbled words are sent tumbling from her maw, “Ruga, we need to move.” The call means that Keahi needs to obey Sirius’s order but she also wants to get to the training den so that she can start taking stock of what is happening within the Armada. Leaving behind their warm bed, she makes certain that Ruga is right beside her and, together, the pair turn to rush toward the opening of the den. However, the woman’s still sleep-befuddled mind makes her normally nimbly limbs twist around themselves and the woman goes crashing to the floor of the den.

Curses spill from her lips as Ruga moves to help her untangle herself, fear sharpening her sense as the roar of the incoming flood reaches its final crescendo. By then, it is too late, the growing tidal wave of water and debris is beginning to flood the Col. The rolling wall of liquid envelopes those unfortunate enough to be caught out in the open while also destroying almost every object in its path. As the red woman is just getting to her paws, those terrible waters reach Ruga’s forge and slam into the immovable object which makes it quiver.

Murky waters spill into the open den, swiftly moving to flood the home. Finally, on her paws, fearful blue eyes turn to Ruga as she shouts, “Run!” But fate has called the scene of the play for the pair as several splintered and broken trees pound the forge with the unrelenting rage of a strange and wrathful god. The supplies for Ruga’s forge are stolen by the waters, moved out of their area and in toward the den as those, pieces of the forge itself, and broken trees all begin to clog the only exit for the red couple. “No!” The scream is filled with desperation, utter terror, and disbelief as Keahi launches herself at the too quickly form blockade; her body slamming into and bouncing off it with a thud that makes her teeth rattle.

Tears form in her ocean blue eyes as she looks to Ruga, the darkness that fills the area around them becoming an abyss that her optimism can breach. The exit is completely blocked and the water is about half up her legs, its cold grasp making her shiver with fear and silent revelation. Water still makes its way into their den, pouring through every gap it can find to speedily fill their tomb. A sad smile crosses her face as she steps toward the man, knowing it is useless to try and dislodge the barrier and that it would only spell their demise faster if they do so.

Some may call her cynical for her final outlook but, in the last moments that she has to spend on this plane of existence, Keahi would rather spend them talking to the man she loves rather than expanding her energy in a fruitless endeavor. The waters are rapidly filling the cave as she moves to Ruga, not stopping as she wraps herself in his warm embrace. A soft sob can be heard over the rushing water as the woman tearfully says, “I am so sorry Ruga. It’s all my fault. I am so sorry that I didn’t get to show you my home. I love you Ruga.”

Keahi lifts her head, capturing his lips with her own as the water reaches her neck, a shocked gasp escaping as she pulls back slightly, the cold infiltrating every fiber of her being. She holds onto Ruga through it all, the man who had stolen her heart and is now her mate in death. Tears fall as her paws can no longer touch the floor and still she holds onto him, knowing that, even when death takes her, the red woman will not let him go. The water has almost completely filled the den when she gasps out, “Find me in the next life, Ruga.” And, with those words, she inhales a deep breath as the water seals them in.

There is a quietness underneath the water, a calm that Keahi cannot feel in the moments that follow. Arms are still locked around her love as the woman presses her ears against his chest as her eyes flutter shut and she waits. It is the only gift she has left to give him in these final minutes; the knowledge that he did not have to die alone. Only when she hears his frantic heart rate stutter, feels his body inhale the dark elixir that is death, and finally knows that the last of his life has left his body does she act. With her eyes firmly closed and as her lungs yearn for air, the woman imagines the warm beaches of homeland one last time… and inhales.

-exit Keahi via death-

The flood waters will take days to drain away from the Col and reveal the den’s entrance and even more days will be spent clearing the blockage to the red couple’s grave. However, when the Armada is finally is able to peek into the love-doomed couple’s den, they will find that the pair are still locked together in an eternal hug that death could not break.



OOC: Permission to power play Ruga given by Shelby


"Keahi Mogotsi"